One more brief insider scoop for you regarding
"Scents," my world-gone-stinky flash piece.
I've always had a soft spot for Adam and Eve threads in
science fiction tales. I also enjoy dystopian stories. Quite often one outcome
for those is a literal or figurative do-over, particularly at the conclusion.
In other words, center the plot on thwarting the bad, oppressive
society/regime/environment somehow and then give the heros a chance to start
anew, the notion being this time all will be better. It's a fitting reward for
a titanic struggle.
Except in my own stories.
Being the dark fiction slinger that I am, I don't expect
I'll ever spin a tale where my victors go on to found a whole new utopia
unmolested. Oh sure, they might desire to. They might think they will. Perhaps
it will even start out that way. But I seriously doubt I'll be able to resist introducing
some destabilizing factor to undermine their reward.
Let's face it. A true Garden of Eden is lush, sanguine and
idyllic. In other words, conflict free. Add a serpent and now you have the
makings of a real story. That's my job as a writer: inject conflict and
tension, shake vigorously, see what falls out.
When I conceptualized "Scents," I knew it would
have an Adam and Eve theme woven into it (albeit somewhat reversed). I also
knew my Eve would be fiercely devoted to her mate and never inclined to abandon
her love even though Eden or, in this case the world outside their domed prison,
beckoned and was hers for the taking. That's not to say she didn't want that
life of total freedom under the stars. She just didn't want it alone. My Eve's bond was that strong.
At the point where I was prepared to actually introduce
Eve's mate into "Scents," I paused. This was where the typical trope
would have me supply an Adam and, I admit, would be a typical storyline for me
to write.
That's when I asked myself why? Why did it have to be an
Adam and an Eve? Why not an Eve and Eve? Or an Adam and Adam for that matter.
After all, "Scents" was a story about love and utter devotion.
Period. Biological reproduction never entered the equation.
That was my liberating moment. The result was my first Eve
and Eve story. Darkened, of course.
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